Transcendental Nature
by Zennistrad
Summary: When Viridi unexpectedly falls ill, an heirloom left behind by her mother brings a shocking revelation on the nature of godhood itself. In the hopes of finding answers, Viridi brings her forces to an alternate dimension. Not long afterward, Reimu Hakurei receives and urgent message. A goddess from the outside world has conquered Moriya Shrine, holding its resident gods hostage.
1. Prologue 1

_CRAAACCK-BOOOM!_

No matter how many times Viridi saw it through her commander's eyes, the spectacle of thunder never ceased to be entertaining. Underworld forces scattered as the lightning tore through their ranks, obliterating dozens of the abominations in a single flash of blue.

_"Great work, Phosophora! We'll have the rest of these crimes against nature cleared out before we know it!"_

Hades' defeat hadn't been the end of the Underworld forces. Stragglers had remained, disorganized save for the few monsters intelligent enough to command their own squadrons. But without their god it was clear that they posed little of the threat they once did.

Still, there was a lot of work to do. Far more remnants of the invasion were left on the surface world than even Viridi had anticipated. And just thinking about the _way_ they were created… it made her sick to her stomach. Even those vile humans didn't dare to desecrate nature to such a degree. The very thought of it filled her to the brim with rage, a rage so intense that her head began to spin.

Viridi clutched her forehead, holding herself steady. _No, focus._

She closed her eyes, readjusting her divine sight. There, the scene shifted. Another locale, a base she had set up in the mountains, in a region where many of the remaining Underworld monsters gathered. They had been forced to flee to the region from surrounding territories by her own Forces of Nature, right into the very place where her army was strongest. The mountain fortress was no Lunar Sanctum, of course, but the powerful cannons and anti-air artillery made short work of her foes regardless.

And, of course, it was all devised by another trusted commander, Arlon the Serene.

_"Arlon! Status Report!"_

"The fiends are on the verge of extermination, mistress. Dare I say, my cunning trap has succeeded flawlessly."

_"Excellent! Keep up… the…"_

Viridi let out a grunt, as her perception struggled to reach beyond her body. Telepathy and scrying were trivial to any self-respecting goddess, but somehow it had only gotten more strenuous over the past three years.

"Are you alright, milady?"

_"Yeah, Arlon. I'm fine. Just… keep doing what you're doing, I'll get back to you."_

Viridi pulled her consciousness back to her own body. There was one more commander of hers to check on. She had kept a portion of her power focused on him for some time now, as out of all of her commanders he was easily the most powerful of them, and she couldn't help but admire his tenacity.

…Not that it _meant _anything to her, obviously. That'd just be ridiculous.

She put the thought out of her mind, and refocused her mind's eye once more, the scene shifting to that of a decimated town. Within it, an angel with black wings fought against a lion with silvery metallic hide, which shone brilliantly under the midday sun. She watched, transfixed, as Dark Pit held out his own against the monster; despite its hide being impenetrable by his arrows, Viridi's strongest commander was able to take the beast down solely with melee strikes. His bow split into twin blades of silver, he slashed at the beast's neck, and as it fell with one final roar, Dark Pit let out a triumphant cry.

"_Looks like there's more than one way to skin a lion!_"

Viridi couldn't help but smile. He was so much more like his counterpart than he'd ever admit.

"Awesome job, Dark Pit. Prepare for extraction!"

Despite the increasing light-headedness, Viridi focused her divine energy, opening the gateway through reality that would teleport Dark Pit back to home base.

She just needed to focus.

…

Focus.

…

_Focus._

…

_Keep focusing._

…

Something was wrong.

…

Why hadn't he returned yet?

…

"Hey, Viridi, what's the holdup?"

…

_"S-sorry! Technical difficulties!_"

…

Focus. Dammit, _focus._

…

"Uh, Viridi!"

_"Be patient, I'm getting there!"_

…

_Focus. FOCUS!_

…

"Viridi? You okay?"

_Almost… guh.._

"Viridi? Seriously, you're starting to worry me."

…

_"THERE!"_

_"Holy crap! Viridi!"_

A burst of light engulfed her vision, and Viridi fell face-forward to the ground. The last thing she saw was Dark Pit running to catch her as she fell.

Viridi had woken up the next day, in the infirmary of her palace. Much to her chagrin.

She was a _god, _for Herself's sake. Gods don't get _sick._ And as much as she adored all of her Forces, they could get so dang _overbearing_ when trying to nurse her back to health. Even Arlon.

_Especially _Arlon, now that she mentioned it.

"Now, mistress, are you sure you're well enough to be out of bed?"

"Yes, Arlon."

"Absolutely sure? No need for any more painkillers? Herbal supplements? A bedtime story?"

"No, Arlon. I'm fine."

"I see. And you're certain you don't want Palutena to cover for you? If I explained the situation to her, I'm sure young master Pit could—"

"_Arlon, for the love of Zeus, I'm FINE!_"

She didn't care to stick around long enough to hear Arlon's reply. Her furious stomps echoed through the marble corridors as she left him behind. Eventually, she reached her bedchamber, and the Bladers standing guard wordlessly stepped aside as she slammed the door behind her.

When all had blown over, Viridi let out a sigh, falling wordlessly onto her bed. Her personal chamber was small, much smaller than one would expect of a goddess, but it felt like home. A room where the blanket of vines and tree branches blended seamlessly with the marble walls, growing further and further into the stonework the further up it went, until the upper walls and ceiling had ceased to be marble entirely. The roof of her bedroom was akin to a tree's canopy, a thick covering of branches and green leaves that let the light gently filter into her eyes at sunrise, waking her just when she needed.

But now, she couldn't think of sleep at all. She'd told Arlon she was fine, but she wasn't sure if that was really the truth.

Dark Pit had been the first to notice it. As of late, she'd grown more scatterbrained, found it easier to lose focus. It wasn't anything major at first, just a quick heads-up was enough to bring her focus back to where it needed to be.

But it didn't stay that way for long. As time passed, the lack of focus turned to lightheadedness, then disorientation, then fatigue. She'd tried to keep it secret from her other commanders, of course. Knowing that their goddess was falling ill would have been devastating for morale. But despite her denials, it was clear that _something _was wrong.

Dark Pit had brought her to the infirmary as soon as she'd passed out. If Arlon was to be believed, he'd sat over her for days, waiting for her to wake up. It was only when more pressing matters on the battlefield called, and only at Phosphora's urging, that he left her at all.

It couldn't continue like this. Her condition was getting worse. If she didn't find out what it was, and find a way to fix it…

…Viridi shuddered. No, that possibility was unthinkable. Gods didn't… they died, yes, but they didn't die the way _mortals _did. They didn't suffer disease, or sickness, or age. What was happening to her wasn't possible. Nobody knew what it was that was afflicting her. The Chaos Kin was dead, and Arlon would have certainly been the first to know if it had come back for her. Bacterial or viral diseases were out of the question. And everyone knew that gods didn't simply _overexert _themselves.

But something had to be done about this. She had to fix it. There had to be something she could do.

And… as it turned out, that thing might be right here, in that room.

Viridi climbed out of her bed, and carefully reached underneath, where a simple box lay right below the center of her mattress. She pulled it, examining the unvarnished wood, which she could sense was still alive. The box held a simple metal latch, which remained unlocked — yet never in her one-hundred and thirty years of life had she opened it.

That box was the last gift her moth had given her before leaving for parts unknown. And really the _only_ gift, now that she thought about it. But surely that was normal. For a mother to create a child from nothing, and then leave her behind. Gods didn't raise children the way mortals do, after all.

…Right?

She carefully undid the latch. Before leaving, her mother told her of the box. That if there was ever an incident that even the gods couldn't resolve, she would find the answer here. But it was never to be used unless it was truly a last resort.

This, she figured, was an emergency the gods couldn't resolve. Gods don't get _sick. _Especially not the Goddess of Nature. Sickness was natural, and Viridi _was _nature. And it's not like she could ask the _other_ gods for help, after nearly wiping out humankind. She knew what they said about her behind her back. Pit and Palutena might listen to her, but then…

_…no. Out of the question. I'd sooner die of sickness then grovel in front of them!_

Stupid Goddess of Light and her stupid lackey. She didn't know why she'd helped them. She could have taken care of Hades _herself_ if that idiot angel hadn't blown up her Lunar Sanctum.

The thought was pushed aside when she opened the box. Inside was a card — a purple scrap of paper, faintly glowing with an aura that she did not recognize. She picked up the card, feeling its magic flow through her. Her eyes were drawn to the incantation written on its surface, words that were written not with ink, but with power. She didn't even realize she was speaking the words until they had already left her mouth.

_[SPELL CARD: CROSSOVER "BORDER BETWEEN HELLENIC AND ORIENTAL"]_

There was an explosion of power, and for a split second Viridi felt as though her body had been pummeled by a shower of bullets. Though the sharp sting was enough to turn her vision white, it soon subsided entirely. She picked herself up off the floor, noticing perhaps a bit too late that she had been thrown across the room. But that wasn't what _truly _caught her attention.

No, what truly caught her eye was the rift, seemingly in space itself, that had torn itself open right above her bed. Within it was a pure blackness, dark as midnight, but instead of midnight stars it was filled with piercing, disembodied eyes. She could _feel_ raw power emanating from the rift, a dreadful aura that she had felt once before, and had hoped never to feel again. Her eyes went wide, and her body trembled as she backed against the wall, unable to look away.

_The Chaos Kin. Oh, God of Gods, it's just like the Chaos Kin! What have I done!?_

Then, just as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, a figure stepped through. It superficially resembled a woman, wearing an ornate purple dress and cap, and carrying a matching parasol. Her long blond hair was adorned with red ribbons, and her eyes were a deep… gold? Purple? Viridi couldn't tell, as every time her mind seemed to grasp it, the color of the eyes slipped right out of her conscious perception. The fact that they didn't have pupils was the _least _disconcerting thing about them.

The woman, the thing that every part of Viridi's mind _screamed _at her was the Chaos Kin, looked down at the quivering goddess and smiled.

"How interesting. Cybele never told me that she had a child."


	2. Prologue 2

Bewilderment, Viridi found, was a truly powerful emotion. Powerful enough that, even in the face of something that _should _have terrified her, she had forgotten her fear completely.

"That's… that's…" _Cybele, _the name echoed in her mind. Mother of Gods, First to Live, Lady in the Green Mountain. Even among the pantheon, few had heard the name beyond whispers. But Viridi knew better. "…my mother's name. How do you know who my mother is?"

The… _thing _before her, the woman with the purple parasol, smiled. She wasn't divine, but she was something far, _far_ beyond mortal. "I'm quite familiar with your mother, if you can believe it. I recognize the scent of her blood. It flows through you. Am I right to assume you are her child?"

"Um… y-yes?" Viridi said, trembling. _Okay, fear response is starting again. That's natural, natural is good. Natural is what I'm all about._ The cold sweat and rapidly accelerating heart rate reminded her that nature, while good, could be _damn _unpleasant sometimes. "I… I have a question. W-who… and _what _are you?"

"Yukari Yakumo," the woman replied. "I am a being known in my own land as a _youkai, _a supernatural creature." She leaned over and offered a hand… the gesture didn't seem threatening, but the powerful aura oozing from her presence didn't due her any favors. It also didn't help that she called herself _supernatural. _Viridi always hated that term.

_Nature encompasses everything in existence! How can you be "super"natural if you're a part of the same existence you claim to be above? It makes no sense!_

Reluctantly, Viridi reached out with her own arm, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet by Yukari. Maybe not the smartest decision, considering the possible threat, but she was curious now. Curious about the "youkai," and about this strange being who claimed to know her mother. Curiosity, as in so many other cases, had taken common sense out to a shed.

"It's… Viridi. Goddess of Nature."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Yukari. Her eyes had a certain… warmth to them. They were still unsettling to look at, not being able to fully convince Viridi's brain if they were gold or purple, but the warmth was there. "I wonder. Has anyone ever told you that you have your mother's hair?"

"No. They wouldn't know," Viridi said curtly. "No one but me does."

"Ah. Shame, that."

"Um… yeah, I guess so." Viridi coughed. "Um… may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why does your power feel so much like the Chaos Kin? Can, I… can I trust a being like you?"

Then, Yukari reacted in a way Viridi entirely failed to expect.

Specifically, she _laughed._

It was a small laugh, to be certain, the kind you might expect of a woman born into very old money, with the elegance and dignity expected from such a status. But nonetheless, it sent a chill down Viridi's spine. "Um. What's so funny?"

"Oh," said Yukari. "Nothing much, to be honest. I just find it funny that you managed to deduce my species so easily. In fact, you're the first being I've ever met to figure out what I really am."

_Wait… Chaos Kin… species?_

At that exact moment, Viridi was _very _glad that she had already gone to the bathroom earlier.

_THERE'S MORE THAN ONE OF THEM!?_

Yukari frowned, looking for a moment to be outright offended. "Oh, come on now. There's no need for that look. I have no reason to hurt you, you know."

"W-why… why should I believe you!?" Viridi had already unconsciously backed away, until she was backed straight against the wall. "Do you have any idea what the _last _Chaos Kin did to us!? That one-eyed freak took control of the Goddess of Light! It posed an existential threat to the balance of nature just by itself! And now you're telling me you're like that… that _thing!?_ And you expect me to _trust _you!?"

"One eyed…" Yukari paused, and her shimmering eyes reflected something else, mirroring her own thought process. "Oh dear, you must have seen one of my lesser kindred. I apologize, they're sometimes known to cause trouble in other dimensions."

_LESSER!?_

Viridi couldn't take it anymore. Right there, she was in the middle of her single most private chamber, the one place where she'd be safer than anywhere else in the entire world. And now, she was staring in the face of something powerful beyond her comprehension, something that made even her feel insignificant. She could feel something warm and wet running down the side of her cheeks.

And yet, as the youkai looked down at her, there was something in its eyes, something… soft? Pity? Kindness? No, that couldn't be it. It didn't make any sense. Yet the way that Yukari approached was careful and exceedingly gentle, there was not an iota of tension or aggression anywhere in her body. She leaned over, and gazed into Viridi's eyes.

"Viridi, look at me," said Yukari. "It's okay. I promise I won't hurt you."

"But…"

"Chaos is neither good nor evil, Viridi. It doesn't inherently harm, nor does it inherently heal. Chaos is no more than existing without boundaries, casting off that which defines the cosmos. I acknowledge the pain that one of my kind may have caused. But I have no intention of hurting you, or anyone else in your world."

"O-okay," Viridi stammered. _Dammit, how did I let myself get reduced to a quivering wreck? I'm supposed to be a god! _"But that still doesn't say why I should _trust _you. How do I know I won't end up like Palutena? How do I know you won't try to torture me and feed off my soul?"

Yukari smiled once again. It was almost frightening how disarming it was. Such an ancient and inscrutable eldritch being, and all it took for her to quell fear was a pleasant face.

"Because even to this day, your mother is a very dear friend of mine."

_My mother. _There it was again. This… _chaos kin _knew her mother. And it was summoned by the thing that her mother had left behind, the very thing that her mother told her to use in case of an emergency.

_…Can I really trust her?_

"I won't force you to take me at my word, of course." Viridi couldn't help but take notice that Yukari said _won't _instead of _can't. _"But either way, you summoned me here for a reason, correct?"

"I…" Viridi's thoughts hit a snag. It was terrifying, being before a creature so much more powerful than even a god. Yet at the same time…

_She's powerful enough to do whatever she wants to me, even if I was well. Seize my mind and soul at any moment. Lying to her won't stop her any more than if I told the truth._

Viridi exhaled, deciding at last to bite the bullet. "…Yes. I did. The truth is, I… I'm getting sick. And that shouldn't happen, not to a god."

"Sick?"

Viridi nodded. "Yeah. I feel like I'm losing my strength. It started with some minor lightheadedness, but now it's affecting my ability to do anything. I've been completely out cold for the past few days, and I have a feeling it'll only get worse if I don't do something."

Yukari's expression remained unreadable. "Well, as far as I'm aware, there is only one thing that can affect a god in such a way. Has anything affected your believers as of late?"

Viridi blinked. "Um. I'm sorry, my _what _now?"

For the first time, Yukari appeared to be genuinely taken aback. Her eyes widened, though it didn't take long for her unflappable calmness to return. "I see. You don't have anyone placing faith in you. That _is _going to be a problem, isn't it?"

"…I'm sorry, you lost me. What do you mean, 'faith?' What's that got to do with anything?"

Yukari's eyes widened even further. Her lips curved downward, into a frown that _felt_ more pronounced than it appeared. "You don't know? I didn't think it was possible for a god not to know. Then again, if you're Cybele's child, the circumstances of your birth would be somewhat unusual…"

"Enough beating around the bush!" Viridi huffed. "What exactly are you getting at here!?" _And what does my mother have to do with this!?_

Yukari's frown deepened. "Well, it's quite simple. You're a god. Gods need faith from their followers to live. If you fail to collect faith, your power will wither, until your entire existence fades."

Viridi could feel her jaw go slack, not even realizing that she had clenched it before. "I… I'm _dying?_" The possibility had not escaped her before, but she had refused to even consider it. A lump formed in her throat, her words struggling to escape. "And it's because I don't… I don't have enough followers?"

"Precisely," said Yukari. "But it's an easy enough problem to fix, from an immortal point of view. All you need to do is earn the earn the respect of enough humans—"

"_No! Absolutely not! Out of the question!_" Viridi's reaction was as instantaneous as it was forceful. Her exhaustion had been all but forgotten, and in its place was a fire that burned into the very depths of her heart. She stood to her feet and stared Yukari in the eye. "You think this is some kind of joke!? I called you because I'm sick, and you tell me that not only am I dying, the only way to cure myself is to be nicer to humans!? _Humans!? _Just what kind of sick prank are you pulling here, huh?"

A knock came from the door to Viridi's chamber, followed by Arlon's muffled voice. "Mistress, are you alright in there?"

"_Ack! _Y-yeah, fine! Just peachy! No need to worry!"

Somehow, Viridi could feel Arlon silently scrutinizing her from the other side of the door. "…As you wish, then. If you ever have need of me, don't hesitate to call."

Viridi exhaled deeply, then looked up and stared Yukari in the eye. Yukari returned the look with a vaguely catlike smirk.

"A goddess that despises humans. You truly _are_ a fascinating case, young one."

"I'm not some novelty for you to study, you weirdo!" Viridi shot back. "Why should I believe you know _anything _about gods and faith? Why should I trust you when you say I need human followers?"_ Seriously! One minute she's scaring the living daylights out of me, the next she's trying to console me, and now she's just being cryptic! What am I even supposed to think of her?_

"A good question," said Yukari. She reached into… _somewhere_, and pulled out a paper fan, still holding her parasol in her right hand. She held the fan in front of her face, masking everything save her eyes. "Let me respond by asking another question. Aside from you, are there any _other _gods in this world that don't have human followers?"

"Pfft, that's easy!" said Viridi. "There, um… uh… well, let's see here…" _Maybe Pyrrhon? No, that can't be right. I'm pretty sure he wasn't even a god in the first place._

The more Viridi thought about it, the more she started to believe there wasn't an answer. Every _other_ true god she knew of had followers. Even Hades and Medusa had human devotees, secret cults that worshipped them in exchange for dark power. And why would evil gods offer power to humans, if they didn't get something valuable in return? She didn't _want_ it to make sense, but it did.

And there was that nagging thought, the one that lingered on her mind from the very beginning. This strange being, this Yukari, knew her mother's name. _Nobody_ knew her mother's name. And if they did, they'd only ever believed Cybele to be a myth.

_And said she's FRIENDS with my mom. How could that be possible?_

Once again, Viridi's curiosity overtook her common sense. Yukari's presence here had to mean something. It had to mean something that Cybele's parting gift summoned her. It _had _to.

"…Okay, fine," Viridi said with a breath. "You've made your point, so I'll humor you. Let's say you're right. Let's say I need humans' faith to survive. How am I supposed to go about getting that? I tried to wipe the human species out of existence. I don't suppose they're just going to _forget_ that, are they?"

Yukari folded her fan inwards, causing it to seemingly disappear into thin air. "If that's true, then I imagine they wouldn't offer you their faith in a thousand years. That would be rather bad for you, I'd assume."

"No duh. And what exactly am I supposed to do about _that, _then?"

There was a brief pause. Slowly, a smile began to creep its way onto Yukari's face.

"Tell me, Viridi. Are you familiar with the rules of danmaku?"

* * *

**Three hours later**

"I… I'm sorry, mistress, could you repeat all of that?"

That moment was the closest Viridi had ever seen to Arlon expressing any kind of surprise. Once Yukari had told of her home dimension, and of the rules of danmaku, Viridi had called a meeting with her commanders to explain her next plan of action.

"You heard me. I've done some research, and it turns out that I need faith from humans to survive. I've already destroyed any chance of good will from humans here, so we're going to get it from another dimension."

'Research' wasn't entirely accurate. She'd been careful, of course, not to reveal _where _she'd received the information. But given Yukari's apparent relationship to her mother, it seemed more likely true than not at this point.

Phosphora leaned back, floating in the air as she reclined. "So, what? You're going to try to win over humans in another dimension? Seems a bit sudden for you to have a change of heart like this."

"It's _not _a change of heart!" Viridi countered. "We're not going to start pretending humans are our allies. They're not. We just need to go in there, take some of the faith they'd otherwise place in _their _gods, and get out. That way, we can get what I need without stirring up any unnecessary trouble on our own world."

"Hmph," said Dark Pit. His arms were folded as he leaned back against a marble column. "I suppose that's all well and good. But if we're following you to another dimension, how are we going to deal with the Underworld remnants? You don't expect Palutena to pick up the slack the whole time, do you?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Viridi shot back. "As it so happens, I'm currently looking to hire someone else who can help coordinate our remaining forces while we're away. Either way, we won't be gone long enough for it to make too much of a difference."

But in truth, Viridi was still felt uneasy about the idea. _Yukari said something about this when I asked her. 'I know someone very much like you who could take your place.' _She wasn't certain who that meant, and Yukari refused to elaborate, but… _I still have to do this. My mother is involved in this other dimension, somehow. I have to find out the truth. I need to find her, more than anything._

"I still don't know about this," said Phosphora. "Something about this whole deal seems a bit fishy."

"Well, it's not! You're going, and that's an order!"

There was a lull, as any objections Viridi's commanders had were preemptively silenced.

"It seems the mistress has already made up her mind," Arlon chimed in. "Regardless, milady, I _do _hope you are aware of the risks of such an endeavor."

"I'm aware." _Trust me Arlon, I'm aware._ "That's why I've taken precautions to ensure we don't upset the balance of this other world. Which brings me to the next order of business." Viridi called upon her divine power, and summoned a set of objects into her hand. Paper talismans, each with an incantation carefully written onto it. "These are spell cards. In this other dimension, the balance of nature is especially precarious, so gods and monsters use something called 'danmaku' as their primary means of combat. The important thing to note is that it's _non-lethal_, so that means _no _killing anyone. Got that?"

Dark Pit scoffed. "What, seriously? That's lame."

"I don't care how 'lame' you think it is! We need to follow these conventions if we're going to do this. So that means _no _lethal combat. Not _even _if you get bored. _Got it?_"

Dark Pit muttered something under his breath. "…Alright, fine."

Viridi cursed inwardly. Dark Pit was no stranger to insubordination, often ignoring orders purely on a whim. She'd never truly minded, as he was far and away the strongest soldier in her army. But now, with what was at stake, there couldn't have been a worse time for that. _Yukari made me promise we'd all follow these rules. I don't even want to KNOW what she'd do if one of us defied her._

Putting it out of her mind, Viridi continued. "Good. Now that you understand, here are the rules of danmaku…"

* * *

**Two days later**

_"Ahhh._"

Marisa let out a satisfied sigh as the warm tea settled within her stomach, its flavors still lingering on the back of her tongue. _Is this jasmine? Tastes kinda like jasmine._ Of the many reasons she enjoyed staying at Reimu's place, the tea she served had to be among the biggest.

Sitting across from her at the table, Reimu sipped lightly from her own cup, her expression unreadable. Through the doorway beyond, a pair of horns could be seen poking just out from the floor just beyond the door frame, the person they were attached to having apparently passed out.

"Anyway, thanks for lettin' me stay over while my house's gettin' rebuilt," said Marisa. "I don't know what I'd do without ya."

"Don't mention it," Reimu said curtly. She seemed to be in an especially sour mood since earlier that day, when a certain oni decided to freeload off Hakurei Shrine again. "I'm curious, though. How _exactly _did you open a portal to the _sun?_"

Marisa threw up her hands. "Hey, I already told ya it was an accident!"

"That doesn't answer my question."

Marisa grimaced inwardly. _Do I HAVE to answer it? _Time passed, and she hoped that a timely distraction would arrive to change the subject. Fortunately, one did.

_Un_fortunately, it did so by crashing straight through the roof, and onto the table. Which very much wasn't a table anymore after it landed.

As the dust cleared and Marisa stopped coughing, she could finally see what it was that had interrupted their tea time. A familiar white dress with a familiar black head of hair, and a matching pair of black wings. The tengu stood to her feet, but curiously, was missing her camera.

"Ayayaya! Thank goodness I've found you two! There's an emergency at the Mountain!"

Marisa could almost _see _the daggers coming from Reimu's eyes as she glowered at Aya. "Emergency enough to justify breaking my table?"

Aya blushed. "Ah, sorry. I dropped my camera while escaping and panicked for a bit. There's been a hostile takeover of Youkai Mountain. Some upstart goddess and her minions just conquered the whole place and took over Moriya Shrine. It'd make a great story if I had pictures, y'know."

There was a lull in the conversation, as Reimu took a deep breath through her mouth and exhaled through her nostrils. "Alright, fine. That's fine. Suika drank my entire stock of sake, I had to deal with an evil spirit in the Shrine just last week, and now I need to repair my roof and furniture. Let's add an incident to the list, why not?"

Aya pulled out a journal and pencil. "Noted. Is there anything else on that list you'd like to share?"

"That's not… _ugh_, never mind. Come on, Marisa, we're leaving. And you! Keep that part about the oni off the record!"

"Sure! Just get me my camera back and maybe I'll consider it."

Reimu gave no reply, save for a mumbled series of expletives. Walking away brusquely, she grabbed Marisa by the sleeve and literally dragged her out of the room. The young and waifish shrine maiden had once again proven to be deceptively muscular.

"Well, look on the bright side. At least it won't get boring today, eh?"

The glare Reimu gave in response was predictable, but Marisa couldn't help but grin.


	3. Stage 1 Midboss

_[BGM: White Snow on Green Mountains]_

Marisa had been flying alongside Reimu for several minutes, when it became apparent something was wrong. The weather as they left had been hovering at around twenty degrees Celsius — only to suddenly and sharply drop to freezing temperatures. This was made all the more apparent as the clouds overhead began to precipitate, causing a gentle flurry of snow to fall.

Marisa shivered involuntarily, forcing her to adjust her seat on her broom. She looked over to Reimu, realizing her detached sleeves left her far more exposed.

"You want we should go back and get your scarf?"

Reimu shook her head, despite being visibly uncomfortable. "No, let's keep going. It shouldn't be this cold in early October anyway. I've no doubt this is related to the incident."

"If ya say so," said Marisa with a shrug. She turned to Reimu and gave a wink. "And hey — if ya ever get too cold, you can share a spot on my broom. I'll keep ya warm."

Marisa couldn't help but laugh when Reimu's entire face turned red.

Following Reimu's lead, Marisa's flight path took her over the mountains leading up to the Shrine. Already, they were beginning to see the treetops covered in a thin blanket of white. Predictably, the fairies that they passed by seemed bewildered by this new development, though that didn't stop some of them from taking potshots at the two as they flew by. Marisa was sure to give them a clear, intelligent, and well-thought rebuttal in the form of a bright and sparkly laser.

They managed to continue traveling for several minutes, when suddenly they stopped before an unusual sight. It was a fairy, much like the many others they encountered, but there was something different about this one. Marisa knew how to recognize the magical potential in another at a glance, and this fairy was far more powerful than its kindred. She would have called it a "greater fairy," if there wasn't a fairy that literally had that as a name.

This fairy was of pale complexion and long, straight green hair, and wore a long golden-orange dress with green trim. The green trim was matched by a pair of green boots that pointed and curled upwards at the toes, and four green wings that looked like a cross between dragonfly wings and leaves. Her hat left no ambiguity in what she was dressed to look like: it was seemingly made from the upper half of a pumpkin, hollowed out into a makeshift helmet. Finally, her half-moon glasses were seemingly grown from wire-thin pumpkin vines. She looked, in a sense, like a living jack-o-lantern.

"Ah, it's too cold for autumn," she said, rubbing her arms and shivering. "Cirno, what have you done?"

Marisa blinked. _What the heck is that accent?_

The fairy turned and faced the two. Her mouth briefly went open, before closing into a warm smile. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there. Top of the morning to you."

_Oh. Irish. Hard to recognize that in Japanese._

Reimu frowned. "Morning? It should be just after noon right now. Who are you, and what are you doing here? If you don't have any business with us, move out of our way."

The fairy blushed, and let out a tiny gasp. "Ah! Sorry! It's, um… Orla. Orla Sauin. I'm a sh—" She interrupted herself with a cough. "I'm a fairy of autumn."

"Wait. Sauin. Pronounced like _Samhain?_" Marisa felt a childlike excitement bubble up within her chest. "As in _Halloween? _That's my _favorite _holiday! How'd ya know?"

Reimu raised her eyebrow. "Really, Marisa?"

"Hey, I'm a witch. I'm already in costume all the time. And when you're me, _every _day is trick-or-treatin' at the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"

"That's… certainly one way of putting it," said Reimu. She turned to Orla, a thoughtful look on her face. "You said something about Cirno, right? Is she the one responsible for the snow?"

"Um… yes," said Orla. She looked down, hiding her face below her bangs. "She's one of my fellow shik… U-um, I mean she's a close friend of mine. If there's anyone who _would_ do this, it's her. But there's just one problem. She doesn't _have_ this kind of power normally. Something has to be making her stronger. And I'm pretty sure it's making all the _other _fairies stronger, too."

"Huh?" said Marisa. "Somethin's makin' fairies stronger?" She felt her hands shake, and it wasn't the cold doing it. _The last time that happened…_

Orla turned and looked the two straight on, her face completely deadpan.

"It's not Okina."

"Huh? H-hey, I didn't say nothin'!"

"I could guess what you were thinking. It's _not _Okina," said Orla. "I know Okina's influence, and this _isn't _it. This is…" Orla sighed. "I… I want to try something. Would you mind engaging me in a brief danmaku battle? Just a single one of my spell cards will do. I need to test my abilities before I draw conclusions."

Marisa shared a look with Reimu. She could tell right away what Reimu was thinking. Something along the lines of _'do we really have time for this?' _And Marisa could see the point in that. A hostile takeover of Moriya Shrine _was _an emergency.

Then again, Marisa wasn't nearly as uptight. And a danmaku battle would be exactly the thing to get her blood pumping to fight off the cold. And as she thought that, she could tell that Reimu knew what _she _was thinking.

"Fine," said Reimu. "But please try to make this fast. We're in a hurry."

"Alright, Orla!" said Marisa. "You got it! We'll take you on!"

"Umm… Right! Okay then!" said Orla. "H-here goes nothing! Take this!" She reached behind herself, and pulled out a single spell card, holding it above her head as she recited its incantation.

[SPELL CARD: SEPTEMBER SIGN "REMEMBER THE EQUINOX"]

There was a bright flash of orange light. A glowing orb of swirling orange and yellow colors hovered above Orla's head. Then, in a _SWOOSH, _it burst into a massive cloud of autumn leaves.

The leaves launched outward in a spiral pattern, danmaku bullets shaped like oak, elm, birch, and even rowan tree leaves, twirling and dancing in the air as they swept outwards.

Reimu and Marisa were experts in danmaku, however, and they managed to weave through the openings in the spiral pattern easily. As they did, they launched their own counterattacks, Marisa shooting blindingly bright lasers and Reimu firing a barrage of danmaku needles.

Within due time, Orla let out a grunt of pain as the spell card ended. Having not taken a single hit, a copy of the now-captured spell card blinked into existence before Marisa, which she quickly pocketed.

"So, how's that?" said Marisa.

"It's um… good? I think?" Orla replied. "That was one of my weaker cards, but it _did _feel a lot stronger than usual. I'm going to have to report… Um, I mean, I'm going to have to study this further. Thank you!"

And without another word, Orla flew off to the west, and disappeared into the distance.


	4. Stage 1 Boss - Cirno

Once the pumpkin fairy had left, Reimu and Marisa had continued traveling westward, in the direction of Youkai Mountain. The snow continued to fall even as the mountains thinned, and Marisa could only be thankful that her dress was built from thick cloth. Reimu, by the looks of her expression, was not quite so lucky.

Marisa could have used a spell to warm the two of them — but any thought of doing so was immediately cut short, as a swarm of mischievous fairies attacked. Sure enough, just as Orla said, they were stronger than usual. Their shots were no harder to avoid, but Marisa noticed it had taken more danmaku to defeat each of them. Still, fairy attacks didn't prove to be anything more than a minor annoyance.

When no fairies were left, however, a thought crossed Marisa's mind. It left a growing curiosity in the back of her head, and eventually it found a way out through her voice.

"Y'know, somethin's been bothering me about that pumpkin girl we met earlier."

"What, you mean Orla?" said Reimu.

"Yeah. Didn't she seem… y'know, a bit too _smart _for a fairy?" said Maria. "And she said that Cirno was a 'fellow something.' I don't know what she was trying to say, but it seems awful suspicious."

Reimu paused. Her brow furrowed in thought. "Yes, you're right. And now that you mention it, she also said she was familiar with Okina Matara. If anything, I'd say that's even _more _suspicious."

"You don't think she's… in _league _with Okina?"

Reimu's frown deepened. "I can only hope not. If _she's _the god that took over Moriya Shrine…" Her sentence was interrupted by a sudden shiver. Marisa wasn't sure if it was because of the weather.

"Let's just keep going," said Marisa. "Worryin' ain't gonna do us much good right now. We'll get there when we get there."

"Agreed," said Reimu.

The two continued flying for some time, in silence. Periodically, Marisa would glance over to her friend, seeing the same stern look written plainly across her face, and the same dark bags hanging just below her eyes. Reimu had always been intensely serious when dealing with incidents, but this…

…Marisa decided to bite the bullet and ask. "Hey, Reimu."

A puff of air exited Reimu's nostrils, made visible by the cold. "What?"

"Has somethin' been botherin' you? You've been kinda grumpy lately."

Reimu hesitated to respond. Her face went through several emotions at once, as though reaching for the right answer. "…I'm _tired, _Marisa."

"Feelin' stressed out, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've been looking after Gensokyo since I was just a child. I thought I'd get the hang of it now, but every year it just gets more complicated."

Marisa tried to look Reimu in the eye, but the shrine maiden refused to return her gaze. "Yeah, I understand how ya feel." She hadn't considered it before the Four Seasons Incident, but Marisa had come _far_ closer to death than she would ever be comfortable with. If it weren't for the spell card rules, she'd have been killed several times over.

"Well… no offense, but I'm not sure you do."

Marisa blinked. "Huh? What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm not trying to be rude. It's just that you're not even involved in half the things I deal with." Reimu shook her head mildly. "I've had to deal with mistrustful villagers, hostile youkai, and constantly worrying about whether I'll have enough food to make it through the winter. I haven't even gotten a break in the last month. Just last week I had to deal with the Noodle Incident."

"Noodle…" Marisa paused, trying to recall where she'd heard the name. "Oh yeah, the one with the tiger youkai, right? Alice told me about that. Is um… _that _part true, then? The part where you—"

"You can't prove that happened to me," Reimu interrupted. The furious blush on her face told Marisa it was best to drop it.

Another few minutes passed, as the two flew in silence. The mountains had receded into mere hills now, and in the distance Marisa could see the Human Village. A feeling tugged at the inside of her chest, a feeling that she had to say something. But she didn't know what that thing was.

It took a while, but eventually she did manage to find the right words. "Hey, Reimu?"

"Yeah?"

"When all this is over, maybe you and I could go to a hot spring. I know a place that'll do wonders for your stress."

Reimu looked away, and her expression softened. "You know, I think I'd like that, actually. Thanks."

"Glad to hear it!"

Before Marisa could congratulate herself on her smoothness, however, she noticed someone up ahead. And she noticed that, as they approached, the temperature began to drop even further.

It was Cirno, but something was markedly different about her. She still wore her simple blue dress, and nothing about her body seemed to have changed — but her wings were now drastically different. They were larger, almost larger than the rest of her body combined, and no longer resembled mere ice. Instead, they had grown into ornate white patterns of branching arms and crystal structures. They looked, in other words, like sections of a giant snowflake.

As they got close, Cirno had her back turned to them. The ice fairy giggled and waved her hand, and a massive gust of white wind erupted from thin air, in the direction of the forest below. Instantly, dozens of trees were frozen solid by the blast, encased from root to canopy in thick shells of blue ice.

Cirno placed her hands on her hips and laughed triumphantly. "This is amazing! Eye've never felt more powerful in my life! Now Eye'm not just the strongest… Now Eye'm the _strongerest! _Look out world, here Eye come!"

Reimu cleared her throat and glared at the gleeful fairy. "Cirno, what do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" Cirno spun around in the air, and her eyes instantly lit up, a giddy smile forming across her face. "Oh! _Oh! _This is perfect! Just what Eye need, a chance to test out my new power!"

"Whoa, hey, hold on," Marisa said. "Can't we talk about this first? I'd like to _where _you got this power. Does this have anythin' to do with the goddess that's taken over Moriya Shrine?"

"Goddess? What goddess?" Cirno huffed. "Eye don't know, and Eye don't care! Eye'm stronger than ever, so _this _time Eye'm gonna beat you two for sure! _Take this!_"

_[BGM: Neo Tomboyish Girl]_

_Shoulda known better than to think I could avoid a fight with her, _Marisa grumbled inwardly. She braced herself for the inevitable barrage of danmaku.

Cirno's first attack came as a simple pattern, sphere-like projectiles formed of pure ice in a spreading wave. Bob and weave, dodge the bullets. So far, not a big deal.

But Cirno, for her own part, managed to prove surprisingly good at dodging herself. She maneuvered herself quickly and carefully through Reimu's needles, bypassing Marisa's laser projectiles entirely. Her wings fluttered rapidly in the cold air as she moved, making them appear as a blur of white behind her back.

_Either her power up made her faster, or she's gotten better at this, _Marisa mused. _Alright then, time to take this just a bit more seriously._

[SPELL CARD: MAGIC SIGN "STARDUST REVERIE" — EASY]

Channeling her magic through a spell card, Marisa let loose a barrage of rainbow-colored star projectiles. The kaleidoscope of shots flew in Cirno's general direction at rapid speeds, cutting of large sections of her airspace. The fairy let out a yelp as one of the bullets grazed her, briefly brushing against her left wing.

Seizing upon the opportunity, Marisa zoomed forward, gripping her mini-Hakkero tightly in her palm. As she closed the distance between herself and Cirno, weaving through the remaining bullets, the magical furnace began to glow within her palm. Cirno's eyes were drawn to the artifact, and immediately lit up with fear.

_FWOOOOOOOOOOM!_

The laser wasn't anywhere close to as powerful as her true Master Spark, but it was more than enough to make Marisa's point. When the rainbow-colored beam of light faded, Cirno was left with minor singes on her dress. She looked down at her battle-worn attire, then looked up at Marisa, her mouth splitting into a wide grin.

"Ha! See? You had to use your _real _thingy to blast me this time! Eye really _am _stronger!"

Reimu glanced toward Marisa and raised her eyebrow. "Did something happen between you two that I'm not aware about?"

Marisa shrugged. "Last time I used a flashlight."

"Damn right! And there's no thingy in Gensokyo you can use to beat me this time!" Cirno boasted. "Eye've prepared a brand new set of spell cards for just this occasion! Take this!"

[SPELL CARD: NEO ICE SIGN "ICICLE CRASH"]

Marisa quickly pocketed her mini-Hakkero, and gripped the end of her broom with both hands. Cirno's spell cards were not usually too difficult, but there was always a chance that she could pull something unexpected.

Thankfully, Cirno's new spell card was fairly easy to deal with. Large amounts of icicles formed in the air spreading outwards in a wide pattern, leaving only small spaces to weave through. Reimu and Marisa skillfully weaved through the shots, and countered with their own danmaku. The sudden chill of frost crept down Marisa's spine as an icicle managed to just barely clip the edge of her broom, but otherwise they managed to make it through unscathed.

"_Ooow!_" Cirno let out a grunt of pain as Reimu's needles dissipated against her body, forcibly ending the spell card. "Alright, that does it! Prepare to meet your match, with my new and improved _ultimate _spell card!"

[SPELL CARD: CAT'S CRADLE "ICE-NINE"]

Marisa blinked rapidly. She'd seen the spell card's name before: it was the title of a book she'd gotten from Rinnosuke. Written by an American author, telling a tale of human stupidity.

_Cirno can read ENGLISH?_

She didn't have time to ponder the implications, as what followed was significantly more complex than the others. The danmaku that erupted from the spell card weren't the conventional bullets – instead, Cirno summoned a single crystal of ice. It shot out from her slowly, and then immediately exploded into a complex lattice of pure white crystals, sending piercing arms of branching outwards towards her opponents. The branches of ice spanned out, cutting off significant amounts of Marisa's airspace, forcing her to take refuge in a small pocket of open air between each of the ever-growing ice crystal.

As time passed, the 'safe spot' she'd made for herself only grew smaller and smaller. When there was barely any breathing room left, the branches of ice disappeared.

Marisa was just about to let out a sigh of relief, when Cirno suddenly called forth _another _crystal of ice, rapidly expanding into yet another pattern of tangled branches.

"Oh _hell _no! Reimu, heads up! Lasers incoming!"

Reimu gave a nod, steeling herself for Marisa's counterattack. Marisa reached into her pockets, pulling out a spell card and her mini-Hakkero.

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "NON-DIRECTIONAL LASER"]

The lasers swept out from Marisa in a clockwise circular pattern, instantly melting the entire crystal structure of ice as they blasted through with searing light and heat. Reimu managed to dodge the spinning lasers without a so much as a scratch on her, but Cirno wasn't so lucky, getting blasted several times in a row by the circular assault.

Reimu, without even needing a word, capitalized on the sudden opening. She rushed forward, focusing and narrowing her shots, letting loose a barrage of danmaku needles. Cirno flinched as the needles mercilessly pelted her.

Eventually, there was a loud _paf, _and Cirno's snowflake wings exploded in a burst of white powder that covered her entire body. In the center of the explosion, the fairy let out a loud coughing fit.

After several seconds, the snowy cloud finally dissipated. Cirno's snowflake wings were completely gone, instead replaced by the simple ice crystals she'd always had. The fairy looked back, and let out a horrified gasp.

"_Wah! My new wings! Eye'll get you back for this, you jerks! Just you wait!"_

Without another word, Cirno zipped past the two and disappeared into the northern sky, her eyes on the verge of tears. As she left, the temperature quickly reverted to its temperate autumn state, and the snow that was falling from the sky ceased.

Marisa let out a breath. "Jeez. She really _was _strong that time, eh?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Reimu replied. "Besides, she should know better than to pick a fight with us by now."

"Yeah, fair enough." _I do sorta feel sorry for her though. Those new wings were pretty spiffy._

Marisa gave Reimu a silent acknowledgement, and the two continued their flight, in the direction of Youkai Mountain.

* * *

**Meanwhile, somewhere else…**

"…And that's what's happening. At least, as far as I can tell."

_"You know you don't have to report this to me. I can see the world through your eyes. I've already seen everything that you have to tell me."_

"I… I know. I just… enjoy this? Being a servant, I mean."

_"Hmm. Yes, that's understandable. My hands-off approach to shikigami IS rather unusual. I suppose I don't mind one who wants to do things more conventionally."_

"Oh, um. Right. I'm grateful for that. But what exactly are we going to do? If this has anything to do with that goddess that's taken over Moriya Shrine…"

_"It does. I'm certain of it."_

"Oh? You're sure?"

_"Absolutely. If her mere presence in Gensokyo is enough to empower fairies, then I know exactly who she is. Orla, I want you to make sure that no harm is to befall her. Do whatever it takes to keep her safe."_

"Whatever it takes? But… w-what if I have to fight Miss Hakurei and Miss Kirisame? Wouldn't Miss White be better for that?"

_"As I said, you're my only shikigami to prefer a traditional servitude; the other three take no direct orders from me. In fact, one has not even realized her true nature at all."_

"R-right, of course. I-I'm sorry, I'm new at this."

_"Don't apologize. As long as you try your best, that's enough."_

"…Thank you, Lady Cybele. I'll make you proud."

* * *

**Some notes on Cirno's spell cards:**

**Her first spell card would likely be something similar to**

**新氷符 「アイシクルクラッシュ」**

**In Japanese, since the kanji 新 means "new."**

**Her second would likely be**

**猫のゆりかご 「アイスナイン」**

**Which is somewhat unusual, as the part outside of the quotes isn't entirely in kanji, but instead references the translated title of Kurt Vonnegut's book "Cat's Cradle"**


	5. Stage 2 Midboss

It had taken another fifteen minutes of flight to reach the edge of the hills leading to Hakurei Shrine. By now, any last lingering cold had completely vanished, leaving only the cool autumn breeze as the trees below raced by. The Human Village was just below, and the large Myouren Temple sticking out like a sore thumb nearby. Above, a waxing gibbous moon could be seen in the sky, even in the broad daylight.

_I'll never quite get used to seeing that temple there, _Marisa thought. She didn't dwell on it further, as both the village and the Temple were soon left behind by their flight.

Of course, Marisa didn't expect that they'd be able to get very far without something weird happening. Incidents were never resolved without something complicating things along the way. The fairies she and Reimu encountered seemed to grow more frequent in number the further they traveled, which usually signified the approach of some more powerful being.

Then, not even one minute after dispatching a particularly troublesome pair of sunflower fairies, Marisa saw something. Something _very _unusual. It flew towards the pair, bobbing up and down as it stared at them with its single, unblinking eye.

An acorn. A _flying _acorn, larger than a human head, moving through the air on a tiny pair of leafy wings. It flitted around the two curiously, like an insect circling a lantern at night. The acorn hadn't shown the pair any hostility, and their bewilderment thus far had outpaced any desire to shoot it down.

"Um," said Reimu. "Marisa, what is that thing? I know it's definitely not a youkai."

"I… I'm not sure either," said Marisa. She could get a feeling for the creature's magic just by looking at it; she'd long since trained herself to see such things. "It looks like… some kinda construct, I think? Like Alice's dolls, but… well, the magical aura doesn't seem right."

"How so?" said Reimu.

"It's like… whatever made it isn't _exactly _magic," Marisa explained. She paused, and gave it more thought, squinting as the acorn-thing buzzed around her. "It's sorta similar to the power I've seen Sanae use, actually. Like it's animated by a miracle, or by some… god's… will…"

_…Oh. Whoopsie._

The acorn, seemingly following the conversation, decided right then was the time to attack. It suddenly _opened _like a clamshell, revealing a glowing yellow core. From the core, a single bullet fired, glowing with a searing bright orange. Marisa's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she narrowly dodged the attack. One reflexive danmaku counterattack later, and the construct had been blown to smithereens.

Reimu offered Marisa a sheepish grin. "Ah. Well. In hindsight I should have recognized the threat sooner. Though in my defense, I'm not a divine acorn exterminator."

Marisa said nothing. The annoyance in her eyes said everything for her.

"Hey, let's just try to keep our heads cool, okay?" said Reimu. "If the god that took over Moriya Shrine is sending out minions, it's only a matter of time before we run into even more trouble. Look out for anything weird."

Then, as if on cue, the sky began to darken. It was a rapid shift, as though the light that had poured over the landscape had been rapidly snuffed out. Even though it was only early in the afternoon, the sky was as black as midnight. Except even during midnight, there were usually stars to be seen. Now, the only thing that appeared in the sky was the moon, made all the more luminous in appearance by the lack of competing light from the celestial bodies.

"…So, just to be clear," said Marisa, "that's _definitely _somethin' weird, right?"

"…I'd say so, yes."

Nothing more needed to be said on the matter. A hostile takeover of Moriya Shrine was one thing, but the sky turning dark in the middle of the day could count as an incident all on its own. The two took off, their flight path slowed ever so slightly by the darkness.

_[BGM: Ethereal Journey ~ Lunar Ascent]_

It wasn't long before another one of the acorn constructs appeared. On its own, it posed no threat, quickly being dispatched by Reimu's needle shot. But quickly thereafter, two others showed up to take its place. Then after _those _were taken care of, several more. And after that, almost a dozen more. They paid next to no attention to any of their surroundings as they fired danmaku bullets at the two. Several fairies also joined in, seeing the brief skirmish and deciding it would be fun to take part.

The thought of that sent a pang of worry through Marisa's chest. The acorn-constructs were targeting _them, _specifically. That could only mean that goddess they were up against knew they were coming.

Even though the acorns and their momentary fairy allies were quickly dealt with, there wasn't much new time to rest. New constructs soon joined them, each of them crafted entirely out of natural materials. Though it was difficult to see in the dark, they each had a distinct enough appearance to easily make out.

The first new construct looked a flying rock of some kind. It was round and covered in bumpy protrusions, and a glowing orange core that was visible through cracks across its surface. On approaching, it exploded in the air, sending out three pink bean-shaped blobs, each with a single yellow eye. The shrapnel-blobs propelled outwards at great speeds, acting as living bullets in themselves, but like most creatures they were easily shot out of the sky by danmaku.

The second one was a small, blue creature resembling a bud, with long twig-like arms that ended in massive blades. It floated through the air on a large leaf parasail attached to its body. Like the other constructs, it stared with a single yellow eye as it attacked. It sliced the air with its arms, creating blade-like crescents of wind energy that fired outward in all directions.

Finally, there were the large plant-like constructs with large red leaves for wings, the edges of them coated in sharp steel that made them resemble blades. Their strategy was simple: get a clear shot, and then fire a large green laser. Reimu was caught completely off guard by its first attack, and she ended up being singed as she just barely moved out of the way.

Reimu's retaliatory danmaku made quick work of the construct and its allies, but in the lull that followed she stopped to stare at the end of her left sleeve. Even from a dozen feet away, Marisa could smell the burnt fabric.

"Well that's just great. I don't even know if this will wash off."

Marisa gave a tiny smirk. "Can't deny that enemy had good taste in danmaku, though."

Reimu merely rolled her eyes in response.

The two continued on their journey for quite some time, dispatching the enemies as they went, but eventually the plantlike constructs began to thin out. Marisa knew what that meant. Whenever weaker opponents stopped showing up, a stronger opponent right around the corner.

"Hello, miss. It's a nice day today, isn't it?"

_And there it is. …Wait a second, I know that voice._

It was difficult to see her features in the darkness, but the girl's blonde hair and bright red amulet-ribbon were impossible to miss. As she flew closer, the moonlight revealed her full appearance, leaving no remaining doubt who she was.

"I'm glad it's dark outside, you know," said Rumia. "It hurts my eyes when the sun's out."

Reimu gave the youkai of darkness a sharp glare. "You know it's not supposed to be this dark outside this early. You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

"Ya think that's a possibility?" said Marisa. "I didn't think she was that powerful."

"It can't hurt to ask. Do you know what caused this, Rumia?"

"No, I don't have a clue," said Rumia. "But I haven't worried that much about the cause. When it's night, all the humans stay inside. But since it's still daytime, lots of humans were probably still outside when it went dark. Oh, I do hope I find some!"

It took a moment for the words to fully register in Marisa's mind, but when they did, it brought her to a worrying realization. They were still close to the Human Village, and people commonly traveled along the roads leading out of it to conduct their business. They didn't normally have to worry about youkai along those roads, as most tended to avoid broad daylight. With the sudden and unexpected darkness, however...

…Her eyes shifted briefly over to Rumia's mouth. The little youkai didn't normally show it, but she had quite the frightening set of teeth. Perfect for sinking into the flesh of an unsuspecting human.

"Hey, Rumia. There's somethin' I've been wonderin' about."

"Hm? Is that so?"

"Yeah," said Marisa. "Somethin' weird's making all the fairies stronger right now. I was wonderin' if maybe it would make a youkai like you stronger, too. Maybe you and us could have a spell card duel to find out?"

Rumia paused for a bit, swaying from side to side as she mulled it over. "Hmm. Well, what happens if you win?"

"If we win, you leave and go somewhere else. We're, um. Busy. Very important stuff. We don't want any youkai around distractin' us, y'know?"

Rumia gave a little smile. Briefly, Marisa managed to see a single fang glinting in the moonlight. "Okay. But if I win, I get to eat you. Alright?"

"Deal!"

"Huh?" said Reimu. "Hold on, I never agreed to those terms."

"Relax. You've beaten her easily, right? And now you've got me by your side!"

"Don't be too sure of yourself, miss. I've been practicing!" said Rumia. "Ready or not, here I come!"

The corner of Reimu's mouth seemed to twitch, just a little bit. "…Agh, fine. Let's just get this over with."

Rumia made the first strike, attacking with streams of blood-red bullets, mixed-in with bright blue laser fire. Marisa weaved through the onslaught of danmaku with expert precision, and met Rumia's attacks with her own. She and Reimu had no trouble keeping up with the attacks, even as Rumia's fire grew faster and more frenzied.

A burst of Reimu's needle fire caused Rumia to stumble backwards in the air. She gritted her teeth, and reached into a dress pocket, pulling out a spell card. "Alright, miss! Now you get to see my brand-new spell card! Ta-dah!"

[SPELL CARD: NIGHT SIGN "MIDNIGHT MOONBOW"]

The spell card glowed white, and right away a hail of ivory colored bullets expanded outwards from Rumia in a spherical shape. Marisa weaved through the bullets, and retaliated with her own fire, but it was then that the spell card's real trick shined through.

A pair of bright spheres appeared at Marisa's sides, each one as large as herself, and roughly twenty feet to her left or right. With a loud hum, a beam of light shot from both of them, towards each other. Marisa flinched, but instead of being hit by the beams, the beams both curved upward, before meeting each other in the shape of an upside-down horseshoe.

Marisa looked up and saw what the beams had become. It was a rainbow, sort of. A rainbow composed entirely of off-white, like a gradient of slightly different shades of ivory. It was a moonbow, or a rainbow made from moonlight.

But Marisa had no time to appreciate it, as almost immediately after, the moonbow dissolved into a hail of ivory-colored danmaku, forcing Marisa to dodge as they rained down on her from above. She winced as one of the bullets grazed the brim of her hat.

The spell card continued like this for some time, exploding moonbows alternating with Rumia's own spreading bullet patterns, growing increasingly more difficult with each iteration. In one instance, Reimu's hair bow had been torn off by a stray bullet. Marisa shot her a glance, but she was quick to respond.

"Don't worry about it, I have more at home!"

Marisa nodded, and refocused her fire. She could tell that Rumia was getting tired now, she'd been pelted by enough of their danmaku that she started to wobble slightly as she flew.

This was her chance. As another one of the moonbows disappeared in a shower of bullets, a small opening appeared. Marisa quickly flew in, pulling out her mini-Hakkero as she closed the distance. Rumia's eyes went wide the moment she realized what was happening.

There was a great silence, followed by a bright light and an even greater noise. When the laser vanished, Rumia was left hovering in place, coughing through the cloud of smoke that had singed her clothes. She dusted herself off, and stared down at her feet as she spoke.

"Aw, shoot. You beat me. Guess I'll have to go now…" She said nothing more, and flew away, dejected and defeated.

Marisa let out a breath and placed her mini-Hakkero back in her pocket. As Reimu flew up to meet her, she gave a smirk. "See? Told ya it'd be easy."

Reimu said nothing, at first. There was a knowing smile written plainly across her face.

"What? Why are ya lookin' at me like that?"

"You were worried."

"…Huh?"

"You were worried," Reimu repeated. "You were worried Rumia would catch someone on the roads when it became dark. That's why you challenged her, isn't it?"

Marisa forced out a laugh. "What? Me? _Worried? _Aw, come on, Reimu! That's… That's, um…"

Reimu's smirked deepened. "Go on."

Marisa sighed. "…Aw, fine, you got me. But don't go tellin' anyone I've gotten all sentimental, alright? I've got a reputation to uphold."

"As a liar and a thief, you mean?"

"Hey, shut up," Marisa teased back.

Without saying another word, the two continued on their way, beneath the light of the pale moon. Marisa looked back briefly, and noticed that the tension in Reimu's posture had melted away.


End file.
